MNHQ here: Got a question for the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak MP?

[JuliaMumsnet]

Hi all,

It's clear from the boards that Mumsnet users are feeling the squeeze from the rising cost of living. So we're pleased to say that later this week, Justine will be sitting down with the man who holds the nation's purse strings, Chancellor Rishi Sunak, to ask him your questions.

If you have a question you'd like answering, you can post it below. Please stick to the usual guidelines - one question per user, keep it civil, and if one topic is dominating, please don't continue to post what's effectively the same question or point. We'll be limited for time so we won't be able to ask every question - but we'll try to make sure we cover the topics that we know are important to Mumsnet users.

We'll be closing the thread at midnight tonight, so please do get your questions in before that - and watch this space to hear the Chancellor's responses!

Thanks,
MNHQ

What steps is the government taking to ensure affordable childcare is available for new parents who wish to return to work – thinking particularly of parents of children under 1 or under 2, to whom some of the current childcare policies (e.g. free hours) do not apply?

What will you do to subsidize childcare for middle income families so that their parents can work and pay taxes and contribute to the treasury?

As a higher rate tax payer, I'm wondering why I will qualify for help with my council tax and get an unwanted loan to help with my energy bills while benefits for the poorest and most vulnerable in our society are failing to keep pace with inflation, and people are being forced to choose between eating and heating their homes. Why do you think it's important to give funds to relatively affluent people like me when others are facing such desperate circumstances with so little help?

I've thought of more.
My mid/late twenties children are paying more in rent than my husband and I paid in mortgage fees.
And we were over paying!

My daughter is paying £800 a month for a box room with shared tiny kitchen and bathroom.

I can't see any grandchildren coming.

Can you explain?

Your government placed a huge importance on key worker properties.
Where are they?
I live in a large south eastern town and have seen one small block of soviet style building requirements built in a grubby area near a petrol station on a horribly busy road.

Is that what key workers should expect?

Our town centre is dying on its knees like many town centres.
The vast majority of the town's buildings are owned by vast asset management companies who couldn't care less about M and S closing, or any other previously top named store.
These derelict properties are rotting. The actual fabric of the High Street is decaying.

Loads of people ponder the advent of small local businesses eg independent butchers, cafes, craft shops, fishmongers, bakers, art galleries, haberdashers etc... but they can't afford to move into High Streets as the rent is too high and the Asset Management companies/Oligarchs don't care about small traders... only on their property portfolios.
They don't care .
Do you?
Do you really?

When will the north actually be levelled up?
How are we meant to survive when we’re already working a well paid job and an additional job each and can’t afford our bills?

Why are benefits higher in European countries? Why are they receiving more help with fuel costs? They’ve all struggled with the pandemic as much as the UK, but they’re not making their people suffer.

This country is a disgrace. So many people using food banks and struggling to feed their children, whilst you and other MPs have so much money, you can’t possibly spend it all and still want more. It’s a farce and I for one don’t think I’ll ever vote again, because unless there’s a party leader who’s in touch with your average Brit nothing will change.

Why have you chosen to target National Insurance rather than income tax to support social care and the NHS. This unfairly targets the poor in our Society.

Agreed. I hope MNHQ discard all these frivolous questions.

@Fabvegetablegrower I can answer that question cos rishi wouldn't give you a straight answer. It's so they could tax the Scots as income tax thresholds can be decided by the Scottish government.

Petty really. I sometimes don't blame the Scots for wanting to leave.

Please list at least two significant benefits of Brexit that couldn’t have been achieved without Brexit.

At which point will you be honest with the British people that it was a mistake?

Why were you so quick to write off furlough and PPE fraud? This money could have been used to limit energy price rises.

Which board memberships have you got lined up for when you leave office?

Oh and yet another one.

Do you believe that Boris understands reality ?
Does Boris actually understand , or you for that matter, what it's like to have £5 to last a fortnight and also have to put money on the meter and and give money to a school fundraising effort?

Mine is incredibly simple, and may well have been asked previously:

how do you manage to sleep at night?

Mine is incredibly simple, and may well have been asked previously:

how do you manage to sleep at night?

I have two disabled children who require additional care compared to other children their age. For this I receive the princely sum of £69.70 a week Carers' Allowance - just the one payment though despite caring for two disabled people because you can only claim it once.

I am "on call" to attend to their needs 24/7. This can involve sleepless nights, interrupted or missed meals, ignoring my own needs in order to prioritise theirs, endless fighting with service gatekeepers, hospital trips, short notice summons' to school to deal with various issues, taking care of personal needs including toileting accidents, constant supervision, and more.

£69.70 over 24/7 works out as 42p an hour, divided between two children that's 21p per child.

Do you think disabled people and their carers deserve more than this? If not, why not?

As someone who is married to a women who thinks tax avoidance is ok, who plans to spend more money heating water than many people have to feed and clothe their families, who had to be shamed into feeding some of the most vulnerable people in our society by a football player, who stood up in Parliament on the 7th December 2021 and stated on the record that "No Mr speaker, I did not attend any parties" despite knowing you had attended at least one party through lockdown, do you feel you are morally, ethically and of sufficient good character to hold the title honourable and serve in the best interests of the people of this country?

Follow up question- you lied to parliament, you knew you had attended at least one party and the police have clearly found enough evidence to fine you. Why have you not resigned?

I don't expect a meaningful response, just bluster and excuses, more of the move along, nothing to see here variety.

There are currently more food banks in this country than there are branches of McDonalds. Did you know that? Are you ashamed of that because you should be. We’re a rich nation, no one should be needing food parcels. It makes me sick that they are.

Do you ever donate to a food bank? .

When we have been told by the IEA, by the IPCC that we can have NO new oil and gas for even a chance of a liveable planet for our children, why are you encouraging investment in fossil fuel drilling?

New drilling in the North sea will not increase our energy security or lower our bills, which we so urgently need. An immediate, ambitious investment in home insulation, and wind power will,

There is an existential threat to humanity - folk are already dying as a result of our inaction in the Global North and yet you still decide not to follow the science.

FuriousMama

Hi Rishi,
I wonder if you could tell me what kind of mattress you have?
I'm struggling to sleep at night. I worry about providing for my family. I am a public sector worker and my pay increase due to inflation and cost of living is more like a pay cut. The fees for childcare alone went up by 17%. I'm also struggling with chronic pain, yet I am still on a waiting list. So you see I definitely need a new mattress, preferably one that lets me sleep easy while others suffer!

The Tories and Labour seem to be taking quite different approaches to discussions around sex and gender and the importance of biology in relation to things like single sex spaces and women’s sports. It’s obviously something that’s massively important to lots of women on mumsnet so rather than a yes/no ‘gotcha’ question I wondered if you could give us your take on how to respect women’s rights while at the same time protecting and respecting trans people?

Was the impact and implications of the freezing of the LTA until 2026 fully understood? Highly skilled workers are going part time or leaving the workforce altogether, just at the time of a skills shortage which pushes up wages, fuels inflation and leaves the population without vital workers, E.g. doctors. What are you going to do to retain these skills and increase competitiveness?

What's your favourite biscuit?

1. Do you expect the magic money tree to bear fruit in time for the next election?
2. Do you intend to leave politics and not stand again at the next GE?

Your policy decisions at the start of the pandemic have caused untold financial hardship and worse for potentially over 3 million hard-working UK taxpayers (mostly self-sufficient but not affluent individuals). Among this were a huge number of new parents who were not only having to deal with the anxiety of having babies in the midst of a pandemic, but also the sheer injustice of not being remotely adequately supported by your flawed financial support schemes. Did you give any thought to new parents when devising the schemes and that these policies were discriminatory? And given that so many have suffered such distress and extreme financial hardship during the pandemic due to your policies, what will you now do to give the vital support needed to repair the financial damage of decimated incomes and absent adequate support, now confounded by the cost of living crisis? Please don't tell us yet again about all the help that was given. We've heard it all many times before and it doesn't mean anything to the +3million you decided to leave behind including so many new parents.

When were you planning to use your Green Card to settle in the US?